Sometimes, a third makes things more fun. This week, R+J are joined by their friend Bita Behzadi to discuss her upcoming book Letters From the Last Apothecary, get into the current state of fantasy, her journey into publishing, and more!

1:07 How we’ve been

5:38 What movies Joseph watched (The Great Silence, Ethnic Notions, Bamboozled)

13:54 What movies Ron watched (Higher Learning, Deep Cover, The Moment, Resident Evil discussion, It Was Just an Accident)

33:50 Last minute Oscar thoughts and predictions 

38:13 Bita joins the show

40:11 Bita’s favorite fantasy books, the state of fantasy

57:47 Is fantasy inherently conservative? What does that mean?

1:17:04 Bita’s writing and publishing journey

1:21:00 Inspirations for Letters from the Last Apothecary 

1:26:12 Tropes and marketing

1:29:05 What is Apoth even about? What’s the magic system? What is the message?

1:39:00 Sequels? Adaptations? Whitewashing? 

1:46:20 Goodbyes and comments

Bita's Instagram: @bitabehz